Not Yet Dead
by Whatisitengland
Summary: Afterlife AU. Eren wakes up in the "Afterlife" with no memory of how he got there, or who he is! But before he can figure things out he's quickly signed up to join Commander Erwin and Corporal Levi's wing emblemed squad, as they battle through hell against a mysterious and powerful girl they call an Angel, in order to make up for the unjust lives that God gave them before they died
1. Arrival

(Storyline is Angel Beats inspired. Warning: Multiple major character deaths.)

Chapter one

"Where am I?"

Eren asked himself in a whisper, slowly turning his head from one side to the other as he lay on the concrete floor. From what he could tell, he was outside a boarding school building and it was night, but the place looked deserted.

"What happened?"

After gaining full consciousness, the young man picked himself up off the floor and wiped his eyes. He'd been crying in his sleep, but couldn't remember why...

"Finally, you're awake" An older voice said from out of the boy's line of sight. Turning himself around to sit on his knees, Eren saw the voice's owner walking towards him.

It was a man with jet black hair and strong dark eyes, wearing what looked like a cross between a military uniform and a high school uniform, in addition to some kind of weapon bondage gear. He looked pretty strange to the boy, like something out of a crazy shounen manga.

"Is that...a real gun?" The boy asked wearily, eyeing the black sniper the man had thrown casually over his shoulder to carry.

The man sighed heavily, letting the gun drop down into his other hand and filling it with ammo "Why does every brat that comes here ask that?" He complained to himself, quickly cocking up the gun again and kneeling down over a tripod, the boy assumed he must have set up earlier. Eren then realised they were at the top of a long set of stairs that led up to the school entrance, as the mysterious man was aiming downwards with his gun over what looked the school sports field. "Look, things are going to be a lot easier for you if you learn to adjust" He explained, closing one eye tight and using the guy's sight.

"Adjust?" The young man parroted, shuffling next to him. Now that they were close, he could see the strange symbol on the man's upper sleeve. A pair of wings, one white, one blue, overlapping. It was a familiar symbol...

"This is the afterlife, idiot" The man said, as if pointing out the obvious. "Over here, you have to fight to live. If you don't fight, you'll be obliterated" He explained, trying to get a decent shot.

"Obliterated?" The boy exclaimed. "By what?" He asked in disbelief.

The man leant over and let him look down the gun's sight. "By that"

Looking down the guy's sight, he saw her. A beautiful girl with long black hair and a woolly red scarf, walking around the school playing field in her school uniform, as if looking for something. "That is my squad's enemy, Angel..." The man stated, taking the gun back.

Eren was a little taken aback by it all. "Is he really going to shoot her...?" He thought.

The man then frowned, lifting his head up. "I'm gonna need a bigger gun..." He muttered.

The Eren furrowed his brows. "I think he is..." "Hey, maybe I should just go down there and talk to her?" He suggested, thinking of a way to stop him from shooting.

The man growled, instantly pulling away from the gun and causing Eren to fall back over. "What kind of fucking idea is that? Are you an invalid, or a stupid brat? Go die!" He roared, now kneeling on top of Eren with an angered expression. The man then looked away from His face in annoyance. "Damn brats. Now they've got me saying that stupid catchphrase of their too" He complained, picking himself up off the boy. "I bet you thinking it's funny too" He added, glaring down at the young man whilst wiping invisible dust off his sleeves.

"Not really, but what would I know?" Eren said sarcastically, starting to lift himself up too. He'd only met the man three minutes ago, but he was pretty sure he didn't like him.

At that moment, the two of them heard the sound of footsteps stamping towards them on the concrete and slowly turned their heads in unison.

A young man with short brown hair and tired eyes was galavanting towards the two of them, wearing a casual version of the uniform matching the other man's, and carrying a machine gun in both arms. "Hey Levi! How's the recruitment of the newbie going?!" He yelled enthusiastically with a happy smile. "I know we'll get him on our team no matter what and then-" The boy stopped shyly as soon as he caught sight of his captain's disgruntled expression. "...What?"

Eren gave up. "I'm gonna go down there and talk to her..." He sighed, already halfway down the stairwell.

"Dammit, I used to be such a good recruiter!" The man growled in awe, only to be awkwardly comforted by his friend.

Once he'd reached the centre of the school pitch, Eren caught sight of the red scarfed girl. "Hey, how's it going..." He greeted her casually. "Umm, there's a man up there who's trying to shoot you. Apparently he thinks you're some kind of Angel..." Eren thought that was a sentence he'd never say in his entire life again.

The girl removed her scarf from her face to speak. "But, I'm not any kind of Angel" She explained.

"Of course not, I-"

"I'm the student body president" The girl stated, confirming the boy's idea of him being at a school.

Eren sighed angrily. "I'm such an idiot. Oh course, your not an Angel..." He said, annoyed that he believed the man for a second there. "I need to go to a hospital..." He admitted, turning around.

"There aren't any hospitals" The girl said.

Eren turned around. "Why not?"

"Because nobody gets sick" She explained.

Eren furrowed his brows. "Why not...?"

"Because everyone is dead" The girl confirmed.

Eren found his fists shaking, he could feel himself panicking a little, but he couldn't believe a word of it. It was all too insane to believe. "So you're in on this too, huh?" He asked accusingly. "What is this, some kind of sick joke? I bet you're the reason for my amnesia too!" He barked, pointing an accusing finger at her.

She seemed unbothered. "Amnesia is quite common here. Sometimes people were injured or hit their heads before they died" She stated monotonously.

Eren fumed. "Than prove it already! Prove that I'm dead!" He demanded, certain there was no way she could prove such a thing.

The girl pulled a long silver knife from her side and without any hesitance ran towards Eren, stabbing him dead centre in the chest. Everything went black in an instant...

From that exact moment, Eren woke up again, only this time to find himself indoors during daytime. Quickly sitting up on the bed in a panic, he checked his bare chest with his hands, patting it for good measure. "What the...?" There weren't any visible marks. "But, it felt so real..." He exclaimed, realising for a blissful moment it was just a bad dream, but as Eren caught sight of a heap of bloodied clothing in the corner of his eye, his bloodied clothing, he quickly realised it wasn't just a bad dream at all. The boy jumped off the bed and started pulling on pieces of a spare school uniform in a naked fluffy. "What the fuck is going on here?!" He asked himself, shoving a white shirt on and fumbling at the buttons.

As he focused on dressing himself, Eren didn't notice the figure that had just entered the hospital room. "Hey!" It said, getting Eren's immediate attention.

It was another boy wearing the strange army school uniform with the wings emblem, only instead of carrying a gun like the others, he had what looked like a halbert slung over his shoulder, and a matching stern expression to go with it. He looked tough, with dark brown pointed brows and a two toned undercut hairstyle. Eren knew he was going to cause him even more hassle than the other two guys from before. "I heard you insulted Bertolt and Levi by not joining the squad!" He growled, placing his other hand on the halbert. "You should die" He added harshly, walking closer towards him.

Eren quit with the buttons and looked at the man. "That depends...which one was Bertolt?" He asked, trying to make a joke of the whole situation.

The boy fumed, lifting up the halbert and looking ready to end Eren, but someone at the door halted him. "Jean, stop!" It was yet another boy, this time with a shaven head who was very short in height.

"geez, aren't there any girls here? no wonder they're all hormonal idiots..." Eren thought to himself.

"We're meant to take him to the other's, not kill him!" He huffed, quickly taking the halbert from the other boy.

Jean looked away in embarrassment. "He insulted Bertolt and you're just going to let him get away with that?" He questioned moodily.

The boy smiled lightly. "I forgave you, remember?" He laughed, before handing him back his weapon. The Jean boy didn't speak after that out of, what Eren assumed fron his blushing, was embarrassment.

Before the two boys could stop him, Eren had already ran out the medical room and down the school corridor. "Think Eren, think! How can I get out of here?" He asked himself internally as he ran at full pelt, scared he'd run into another one of them. He was trying to remember what the man was saying yesterday.

"Over here, you have to fight to live. If you don't fight you'll be obliterated"

"That's it!" Eren gasped at his own genius. "If I can just get myself obliterated than I can get out of here, but how do I do that?"

"That is my squad's enemy, Angel..."

"If I find this Angel girl than I can get out obliterated and kiss this work goodbye!" Eren said in confirmation, excitedly running around a corner. "If I head to the Principal's office he'll know what to do, right? I mean, this is a school! If she really is the student body, I can contact her through him!"

After following a few school signs, Eren found himself standing just outside the head teachers office. Nothing looked suspicious so he turned the old door knob, only to hear the sound of something clocking in the walls. Before he could move out of they way, something huge pelleted into him, causing him to painfully smash through a nearby window and go flying out wards from three floors high.

Everything blacked out again, and Eren soon woke up to the sound of a group of people talking nearby.

It was a girl's voice this time, but she still sounded pretty burly. "What do you mean you lost him? You morons!" Eren heard her complain before hearing the sound of one of the boys yelping in pain. He figured she must have thrown something at one of them in stress.

This time, the Bertolt boy was speaking, though it wasn't aloud so much as to one person in the room. "You really shouldn't have done that Jean..." He admitted quietly. His personality was pretty contacted to the other young man's.

"I'm not just going to let some scrawny brat insult our squad, don't you have any loyalty?" Jean huffed, but he sounded like he'd understood Bertolt's point well enough.

Now another boy was conducting the group's conversation. "Does anybody know when the captain get's back?" He asked, sitting himself down at Eren's feet. They'd lain him down of a couch.

"Captain? I bet he's talking about the guy with the cravat...it was Levi, right?"

"Never mind that...when's our next lunch period?" Another girl asked in a drooling voice before sitting down next to the small boy. "I'm gonna get my fill of the udon stew before it goes again!"

"Tsk" Jean tutted, but decided not to make a comment. He didn't feel like getting in anyone else's bad books over beef udon.

Feeling pretty bored of listening to their pointless conversations, Eren opened his eyes. The small boy was the first to notice this "Oh, you're awake?" He half asked, half pointed out.

The butch girl quickly ran over. "Let me get a look at him!" She demanded. "He's cute!" She teased with a quick wink at Eren.

"Ask him if he has anything good to eat with him!" The hungry girl added.

"Where are you from?" The small boy asked politely. "Are you from Berlin?"

Bertolt didn't ask anything, but watched his friends from the sidelines, whilst the moody Jean left the scene entirely.

"What's your name kiddo?" The girl asked, brushing her hair back.

"This is so stupid" The group heard a blonde girl from the back mutter.

"Have you healed up now, from your fall I mean?"

"Seriously though, are there any food tickets in your pockets?"

"This is so stupid" the girl repeated.

"Alright! Enough" A commanding voice said, instantly silencing the room. Sitting up, Eren saw the dark man he assumed to be their leader walk in, the grumpy teenager Jean was just behind him, along with a tall blonde man. Levi sat coolly on the end of a large school desk that the room was designed around whilst Jean leant on the wall nearer the blonde girl out of the way. The tall blonde man stayed stood up in the centre of the room.

He looked pretty sternly at Eren before speaking. "When did he arrive?" He asked aloud, but everyone seemed to know to stay silent as he was clearly questioning just Levi.

"I found him out the back of the entrance last night, crying in his sleep like a puppy" The dark man explained, seeming to add that last bit to annoy Eren. It was most likely true though...Eren remembered waking up crying. "After that, he decided it would be fun to go talk to Angel" Levi said bluntly.

"To which he got stabbed through the chest?" The blonde finished for him. Levi only nodded. The man then walked towards Eren, kneeling down to speak to him. "Don't feel too bad. I made the same mistake when I arrived here" He admitted friendly, before standing up again. "Levi still hasn't quite gotten over the amount of mess that was made when Jean first arrived either" He said jokingly, causing the Jean boy to blush again and look away.

Eren felt even more bored of this polite conversation than when he was listening to the other's in his sleep, so eased himself up off the couch to speak. "Look, Sir" He said politely to get his attention. "I really don't plan on staying here or fighting or anything. I just want to get obliterated as soon as I can" He explained, causing he whole team to look at him with the same weirded out expression.

This time, a woman spoke, one Eren hadn't noticed earlier with yellow framed glasses and a ponytail. "So, what your saying is you wouldn't mind giving up your life here?" She asked, pushing her glasses up her nose.

"Yeah" Eren answered.

"You really wouldn't mind going down without a fight?" She inquired further.

"Well, no...not really" Eren answered her again.

"So, what you ate saying is you wouldn't mind becoming a bird in a cage?" She asked, removing her hand from her glasses and laughing a little bit.

"A-A bird?!" Eren exclaimed, getting up off the couch.

Levi groaned. "Not this speech again"

"By being here now, you can exist and live a for filled life, with immortality as a bonus, but getting obliterated means no longer existing in this world. We can only assume that because this is purgatory, obliteration means our reincarnation" She explained, far too cheerfully.

This time the small boy joined. "You could be reborn as a fish!"

"Or even a tiny bird" Bertolt added.

"Or maybe a tasty potato..." The hungry girl drooled.

"You would probably come back as a mangy dog" Jean smirked from the sidelines.

Eren gave him a cold glare. "By the looks of you, you'd be reborn as a horse" He smirked back as Jean held an insulted expression.

"This is so stupid" The blonde girl repeated.

"Enough!" The blonde man yelled.

"Yes captain Erwin!" The teens said in unison.

Eren held a confused expression, pointing his shaky finger at Levi. "I thought he was your captain..." He stated, causing the dark man to turn his face away from him.

Erwin smiled, seeming less than bothered about the statement itself. "We can talk ranks later, first things first..." He said, quickly turning back to his stern attitude from before. When he looked at him in this way, Eren could easily see why he was their captain. "Are you going to fight with us?" He asked, holding his hand out to shake.

Eren thought of all the options he had, there weren't many. "If I find Angel, I can get obliterated, but if that means coming back as a potato...I don't think risking it is to my best interests. Not to mention, I still don't remember a thing due to this amnesia. If I stick with these guys for now they can show me the ropes of this world. Erwin doesn't seem so bad, and I can put up with the others if I have to..." Eren slowly took his hand and shook it strongly. "I'll join you..."

Erwin smiled. "Splendid. Allow me to introduce you to the te-"

"No fucking way!" Jean roared, taking his halbert and swinging it around to fight. "If he wants to join he was to fight me f-!" Before Jean could finish his rant, the dark man had already picked him up by the sharp end of his halbert and swing him out of the offices open window.

Eren wasn't sure whether to thank him or not, so just stayed silent as Erwin let the squad huddle to be introduced. "First I should introduce myself. I'm Erwin Smith, the leader of this battle squad." He said, before showing off the rest of his squad proudly.

The tough girl with long dark hair and freckles was introduced first. "This is Ymir. She's been In our squad the longest out of all the girls" Erwin explained, letting Ymir step forwards and shake Eren's hand with a grin.

"Nice to meet you newbie. I can show you the ropes, if you ask me cutely" She smirked, sticking out her tongue at him friendly.

"Next is Connie Springer, he's relatively new so you two can learn together" The smallest boy strapped pluckily forwards and took Eren's hand.

"It's nice not being the newest guy anymore" He laughed, quickly stepping back in formation.

"This here is Hanje. She's third in command here and makes up most of our research on Angel and this world" Erwin explained, allowing the woman to trudge past him in excitement.

"I can't wait to hear all about your experiences of the world. They'll make for great data!" She smiled, shaking Eren's hand violently in joy.

Erwin coughed. "Moving on. This here is Sasha Blouse head of the defence team for our squad" He said this as if he was admitting some kind of crime to humanity.

Sasha stayed stood where she was as she spoke. "Hey, you don't happen to have anything to eat do you?" She asked Eren, her stomach growling.

Erwin pulled Eren away and decided to introduce the other's quickly. "This here is Levi. He's second in command and is head of most of our military operations" The man nodded coolly. "The young fellow you just saw go flying out of the window is Jean Kirstein. He's fourth in commanded, but we don't let him near the good China. As for the girl in the corner who keeps saying 'this is so stupid' her name is Annie, and that leaves us with Bertolt over here" He said, trying to get the young man to step forwards. The young man merely nodded quietly at Eren as a greeting. "That's everybody here. There are more of us scattered around school grounds at the present, but you can meet them on your own"

"Okay, but I have another question" Eren said, looking down at his own clothes. "Why is my uniform different to all of your's?"

"That's just the school's regular uniform. As a squad we decided to make one of our own. Our symbol was decided by Levi" Erwin explained, throwing Eren his blazer jacket.

Eren stroked the stitching with his fingers. "Wings?" He exclaimed.

"Wings of freedom" Levi corrected him, before jumping off the desk.

"Where are you going now Levi?" Annie asked suspiciously, brushing her fringe back with her hand.

The man picked up a broom that leant by the door. "I have another mess outside to clean up" He said, referring to the young man he'd kicked three stories down. He then quickly turned his gaze to Eren. "I want to talk to him later" He stated aloud, though it was obvious he was speaking directly to Erwin.

The captain sighed before eyeing Eren, who was still entranced by the symbol on his jacket. Erwin smiled at him "You can keep that by the way"

Eren looked up at him gratefully. "Thank you"

The with the assistance of Connie and Sasha, Eren soon got dressed into a full squad uniform. It looked like a school uniform with black trousers, a white shirt and a brown emblem blazer, but then there was the high leather riding boots and the gun holsters and metal gear that distorted the outfit. After noticing how everyone's uniform was slightly different, Eren decided to wear a black hoodie under his blazer to make his different too. Once the formalities like showing Eren around the basic school grounds and introducing yet more people in the squad were out the way, Eren was eventually led up to the roof by Erwin, who talked to him on the way up the long winding staircase.

"It doesn't happen with every newcomer, but Levi likes to talk to some of them on his own, without the squad interrupting." He explained, their footsteps on the metal steps being the only other noise in the dark stairwell. "We decided the roof was a private enough place after sending him up here with Jean on his first day to avoid anymore property damages. Since then, he's only brought three other squad members up here, including Hanje and Annie"

Once they had reached the top, a question clicked in Eren's head. "Hold on. Who was the third person?" He asked nervously.

Erwin placed his hand on the door. "That would be you, Eren" He said, pushing it open and letting the sunset leak inside.

Levi was stood leaning forwards on the metal bar fence that surrounded the flat roof, watching the grounds below. After letting Eren walk past, Erwin shut the roof door and left him to his own devices.

He'd changed clothes too, no longer wearing the squad uniform, but a simple black suit and cravat. Not exactly Eren's idea of 'casual summer wear'.

"Why did you enlist so quickly Eren?" He asked dully, ignoring the breeze that was ruffling up his hair.

Eren walked forwards to stand beside him. "I'm not sure"

Levi hummed, finding Eren's honesty a little amusing. "How about I tell you why I joined?" He suggested, turning his head to look at Eren properly. Now that it was light, Levi could see how young he looked.

Eren nodded, placing his arms on the metal fence and leaning the opposite way to Levi. "I joined because I was given an unjust life Eren...I died before I could amount to anything. God gave me an unfair life, then to add insult to injury, he dumped me in this so called purgatory..." He explained bitterly. "After the others arrived, I realised we were all in the sane situation...we were angry at God...none of us were given the freedom of living our lives out to the end..." He admitted, clinging onto the fence in frustration. "So we decided to take our freedom back from him" He grinned behind his hand for a split second before letting it drop.

Watching the way Levi got caused Eren's thought process to click into realisation. "They're all fighting this Angel...they're fighting against their own lives. Yet, I can't even remember my own...?"

It was clearly a sensitive subject, so Eren decided to change it. "Hey. Who are those guys?" He asked Levi, before childishly pointing down on the school pitch. There were a group of teenagers his age all playing a game of baseball in the sunset, each cheerfully smiling away.

"Ah, we call those NPCs..." He explained, turning himself around on the fence.

Eren did the same. "You mean like in video games?'

Levi sighed. "It's just a comparison. Hanje came up with the name...it just means they've been in this world since the get go" He said, putting it simply for the new boy.

Eren still felt puzzled. "So, if I talk to them, do they start to repeat themselves?" He asked, half jokingly.

"Why don't you punch a guy, or slap a girl on the ass for a try?" Levi suggested, quite crudely.

"What?" Eren laughed.

"She'd either run away or slap you" He replied, nonchalantly gesturing with his hand.

"You haven't tried have you?" Eren asked playfully.

The man groaned as if insulted "You got any other questions?" Levi said, changing topic.

"Yeah...Angel, what's her deal?" Eren said, crossing his arms. "She stabbed me the first time I went up to her"

"Yeah, I saw that go down. In her defence you pretty much asked for it" Levi admitted, crossing his own arms neatly. "You wanted her to prove you were dead. It's no wonder she stabbed you dead centre in the chest" He explained in a 'what did you expect?' tone. "She's an NPC too, only unlike the others she's avid of any emotion and immune to sarcasm, not to mention she'll defend herself when attacked" He warned.

"So...she doesn't normally go around stabbing people in the chest?" Eren asked, putting his hand over his heart place, remembering how much it hurt.

"She's only programmed to keep us following the school rules. If you stay out her way you'll be fine. For the record, NPCs don't age" He sighed, looking up at the sky. "That goes for us too"

Eren caught drift of his mood. "How long have you guys been here?" He asked. Meaning "How long have you been mourning your lives?" The question felt important to Eren. He couldn't remember his own life, but if the way Levi talked about the squad was true, maybe he didn't want to...

"It's hard to say...I think I stopped counting" Levi answered, avoiding the question. Looking behind him, he saw that the sun was already disappearing from the sky. "Let's go back inside. We can talk another time..." And with that, the two men walked inside the building again.

"Here!" Sasha woke Eren up from his thoughts, handing him a piece of paper cheerfully. After talking to Levi on the roof he'd headed back to the head teacher's office/ headquarters. "It's a meal ticket, we use them in the school cafeteria to get food!" She smiled, placing it in Eren's hand for him. "It's my last one, but I thought you'd like it-" She said, before hearing her stomach groan.

Connie walked on over to join the conversation. "Sasha, you shouldn't go making promises you can't keep" He told her, before pulling out a few tickets of his own and handing them over to her. "Here. Now we can all go get something to eat together" He suggested, throwing Eren a smile.

Eren smiled back. "Sounds good to me"

Sasha chirped, taking the boy's hands. "Come on then, we've gotta get there before the beef stew runs out!" She warned them as they rushed down the school corridor.

"I don't get it..." Eren thought, seeing Sasha's smiling at him as she ran. "If they were given such unjust lives, how can they smile at me, like nothing at all it wrong?" He asked himself, watching Connie try and keep up with the girl.

"Hey Jean, Bertie! We're getting beef udon, come join us!" Connie yelled at the boys just in front of them.

"I'll meet you there" Jean agreed reluctantly, continuing to walk down the corridor with Bertolt and Annie, who was feeling pretty pissed off about not being asked.

"Oh and Annie, you come too!" Sasha hastily added, making the blonde girl look a little shocked, but remedying the situation.

Once the group were sat down in the dining hall, Sasha having three portions to herself, something occurred to Eren. Before he could ask any of the others, Erwin and Levi has already joined them at the table.

"Pass the salt" Levi asked Connie coolly, before seasoning his dish and passing it on to Erwin habitually, who needn't ask him for it.

"Hey Erwin. Won't Angel attack us if we're like this?" Eren asked, feeling his appetite depleting.

The man looked confused at the proposal. "Why would she? We're just eating" He said, taking the first bite out of his stew.

"So that's how it is...if we attend the school like the NPCs do, then as student body, she won't bother us? Still...these people, who are fighting God...fighting their own lives...in this world, with their unity and weapons, they could make it their own. But here they are, sharing a meal..." Eren thought they all looked pretty happy in this setting. Even Jean seemed to smile at Connie's bad jokes every now and then. Bertolt was no longer shy, but chatting away to Annie, Ymir was teasing Sasha, and Levi of all people look somewhat content sitting next to Erwin. "But in the end, I'm not in this for the long haul...I just need to wait till I get my memories back...and then...we'll see what happens then..."

Chapter one complete. To be continued...

(Hey! Iggy San here! My apologies, this chapter didn't have much action, but I wanted to introduce the cast and setting beforehand. Yes, it is Angel Beats inspired, but don't fuss. You don't need to have watched/read Angel Beats to understand as the story-lines going to be different from it anyway. Reviews/Questions are welcome! I try to reply to as many as I can. You can also follow my tumblr for more SNK and other fandom posts! My URL is the same as my username. Thanks!)


	2. First Mission

(So sorry for the late update. I hope you enjoy it.)

Chapter two: First Mission

"Eren, wake up!" Levi urged Eren commandingly, before throwing his 3D gear on top of him. The young man looked at his superior with a half tired, half angry expression from his bed. "Don't glare at me like that, learn to get yourself up" He commented bitterly, before quietly exiting the boy's 2nd dorm room.

It had been three whole days since Eren's arrival, yet he still couldn't remember anything about his life...or death. This was a fact that irritated the young man at every other second. "Crap, what's he so worked up about today?" The boy asked himself, trying to button up his shirt in the rectangular mirror on the wall.

He shared the room with three other boys, two of which he'd already had the pleasure of meeting the other day. The first was Connie, who slept on the bed next to Eren's one. Eren wasn't sure whether or not Connie was the youngest member of the squad, but he was sure he was the kindest. As for the bed next to Connie's, that was occupied by another young man by the name if Reiner. Eren and he hadn't held a proper conversation yet, so he didn't know what to think of him. And as for the bed on the end, that was occupied by none other than Jean. Though Eren wouldn't have guessed it if it hadn't been pointed out for him yesterday, as it seemed the guy hasn't slept in there the whole time Eren had arrived.

"Jean just doesn't really like to sleep, Levi's the same" Hanje explained it to Eren quite lightheartedly when he asked about it. In the end he decided he didn't really care, it was the horse boy's problem, why should he?

"Today's mission is of utmost importance to our operation, so every squad member present will be required to take part!"

As Erwin began calling out a list of names from a clipboard, Eren looked around the room. There were a few faces he didn't recognise yet scattered between the squad members he was more than familiar with, each looking as bored as the other.

"Are you feeling alright Eren?" Hanje said, jumping to his side. As she did as few eyes drifted their way out of curiosity. "You're not nervous about your first mission are you?" She asked him eagerly, pulling in yet more curious looks.

Eren smirked out of embarrassment, feeling himself go pink in the face. "Of course not!" He said, a bit too loudly, this becoming evident when even the stern Captain Erwin looked their way for a glance.

Coughing loudly to grasp everyone's attention once more, Erwin lowered his clipboard and gestured a group of people over. The most recognisable of the three, other than Sasha, was a woman with short silver hair and bright blue eyes behind thin rimmed glasses, who also wore Levi's leader-like expression coolly. Eren recalled seeing her in the stables the other night feeding horses peacefully.

"The Garrison will be taking command of our defence by keeping Angel out of the tunnels during this mission, in which we'll be entering the under-city" Erwin said, holding the room's attention. "Levi, who is most familiar with the underground will be leading the first squad to go down there, whilst I will be leading the second. Our mission is simple enough, so it should be over within the day. After our last battle with Angel we used and damaged more supplies and gear than we could afford to in one night, so we'll be making a visit to the Guild to get repairs and parts. Once we've replenished our supplies, we'll return to the surface. Any questions?" He asked the room, who all remained silent and serious.

Eren couldn't contain his curiosity however. "What's the Guild?" He asked, the room's attention quickly switching to his presence.

"It's the place that provides our weapon supply. We need to make a point to go there whenever we've finished a long mission. Is that all?" Eren nodded in response and the meeting was quickly drawn to an end. "Mission start!"

He wasn't sure if it was planned out, or if he was just insanely unlucky, but somehow Eren had managed to be put into Levi's squad, so they were entering first.

"I can't believe they let you join the first team" Jean muttered Eren's way as they walked towards the school gym's entrance to the Guild.

"Ooh~!" Hanje chiped from just behind Eren. "I can't wait to see how you do on a mission!" She said happily. The woman then gasped in excitement before bursting into conversation again. "Hey, Levi-!"

"No" He said bluntly, ending her happy rant before it could begin.

The trio stood aside in front of the gym's climbing wall in a row, allowing Reiner and Bertolt to open the entrance.

"When we get inside I will lead the formation. Your gear is of no use to you underground, so Eren, you'll stay within 5 metres of me at all times on foot, Jean and Hanje will be directly behind us by 15 metres and Bertolt and Reiner will be the backbone of this formation by 20 metres. If Angel does enter the tunnels, they'll be the ones to signal us first" Levi explained briefly, before walking forwards and disappearing down a large black hole that was dug into the concrete. The sound of his cape flapping and manoeuvre gear slashing at the rock could be heard down below.

"What happened to not using gear?" Eren asked aloud, leaning over the dark ominous hole. In truth, he didn't want to have to use his in a real mission yet, or ever.

"Never mind that Eren, didn't you hear what he said after that!" Hanje smiled, before lightly pushing Eren forwards.

Eren almost screamed falling head first down the black tunnel, the wind rushing over him. He'd completely forgotten how to use his gear when he felt something grasp hold of him from the dark midway down the tunnel, rushing him to halt.

"What do you think you're doing, brat!" It was Levi doing the shouting. "Get a hold of yourself, use your gear" He said, letting go of the boy again.

This time Eren managed to get a harness on the wall, stopping himself from falling to the bottom this time. He knew he was safe, but he was still shaking all over. Wrapping his arms around himself in the darkness Eren leant his body against the rocky wall front first, desperately trying to calm himself down. Whilst he panicked up against the wall, the boy felt the wind sweep quickly over him three more times in the pitch black, the sound of wire gear and fabric capes whipping past him inches from his ears each time before the faint sound of boots landing on the ground below.

Eren closed his eyes tight, trying to get a hold of himself. "They've landed and they're waiting for you. Just go down there already, you weak idiot. Stop crying!" With that commanding thought, Eren loosened his grip around his sleeves and allowed himself to fall backwards from the wall, clenching the gear's remotes in his hands and trusting the device to save him. For a moment he felt free of thoughts. Before he could think anything outer instinct, Eren came to a steady landing on the tunnel floor. The area was lit up at the walls, much to Eren's discomfort. He was sure that they could have all seen him stopping in the tunnel midway like a fool, but that wasn't as bad as the fact he could still feel a few tears on his face.

"Where's Heichou?" He asked, quickly trying to knock the subject.

Hanje looked up with a sigh. "He must still be up in the tunnel"

As she'd expected, Levi came soaring down from the tunnel, gracefully landing on the ground below, his cape heavily flapping shut from the wind as he glanced in Eren's direction sourly. "Come on..." He said, gesturing Eren to follow.

The deeper they entered the tunnel, the less cave-like and more machine-like the place became. The walls were lit up by flickering electric lamps that were shoved between turning brass cogs and rusted gears, the only thing that remained the same was the dirt floor.

"Why did you stop Eren?"

The boy felt a little taken aback. Until then, for the past few hours the two of them had been walking together in silence after disbursing from the others, so any noise from the man felt sudden.

"I don't know. Because I'm a coward" Eren mumbled, scolding himself. "I completely forgot how to use my gear until you grabbed hold of me like that..."

The man glared at up Eren with a dire expression and darkly honest eyes. "You are not a coward, Eren" The boy felt his heartbeat tenfold at that sentence, but the moment was soon ended by the sounds of echoed screams.

"Heichou, what's wrong?" Eren asked, turning his head around to look behind him as the man grabbed Eren's shoulder tightly. They could both hear heavy footsteps close by...

"Levi!" A woman huffed from the end of the tunnel, barely in their sight. "Angel's here!" She roared down he tunnel.

Levi gritted his teeth in anger before pushing Eren forwards. "Run!" He growled, whipping his cloak's hood up and running beside the boy.

"What about the others?!" Eren asked in sudden realisation. "We need to go back and help them!"

"For Angel to reach Hanje she must have already past not only the Garrison, but Erwin's and my squad!" He explained, his expression was unreadable from beneath his hood. "The best option for us now is to find a way to block off the Guild's entrance from the inside and find another way out ourselves!"

Eren's green eyes flared, he didn't want to leave the others behind...but he was sure Levi didn't want to either. "How do we do that?" He asked urgently.

Levi knelt down and skidded to a halt on the ground, leaving a long skid in the dirt as he turned himself around. "Keep going down the tunnel. You'll reach a large brass air vent. That's the Guild entrance. Go through it and you'll find the under city-!"

"What?!" Eren yelled, halting himself just ahead of Levi. "You aren't coming with me?"

"I need to hold Angel here, or else you'll never make it" He said coolly, rising up off the floor before ripping his cape aside and taking his swords from his gear and flipping them. "You'll do fine. Once you reach the under-city, open the first crate at the end of the stairwell. It's full of enough explosives to bury the entrance on my side, there's a light and a carton of cigarettes under the second crate. Wait in a safe-house in the under-city and we'll come get you" As the man explained this all to Eren, a figure emerged like a reaper from the dark. "Go, now!"

"But what about you-?!"

"Now Eren!" He roared, raising his swords. "I promise I'll come get you!"

Whipping his hood up over his head, Eren ran, and after what felt like seconds of panic he reached the massive vent. "How do I open this thing?!" Knowing there wasn't time to think about how it was supposed to be opened, Eren pulled out one of his swords and started lashing at the vent with it wielded in both his hands, cutting out a rough shape he could fit through. Making his way inwards in a panic, he couldn't help but tear the ends of his green cloak on the sharp metal, but Eren ignored it entirely and went fowards to find yet another gaping whole, this time with a small silver ladder down the side.

He wanted to take the ladder down, for a second he had already made the decision to take it, but rationally thinking he knew it wold take to long. He'd have to use his gear again, only this time, Levi wouldn't be able to catch him when he fell. The young man felt his hands shaking at the thought, but he always knew he wouldn't b able to rely on the man forever. The past few days had only been based on discipline, not emotions...

Everyday Eren woke up to the sound of Levi's complaints, he was escorted around the school grounds at his order, he was trained by him to use gear, and was dismissed by his word. He was only around to give orders, so why was Eren feeling so scared by his absence? Maybe is was because of Angel's power. She'd taken down the whole team running solo, like some kind of supernatural colossal being, like an Angel indeed...

The boy breathed deep and closed his eyes, remembering Heichou's words as he fell steadily into the abyss.

"You are not a coward, Eren"

How long had it been now? Hours, maybe even days had passed since the Guild had been destroyed, burying Eren beneath it. Some of the Squad members hadn't seen sunlight since waking up, as they'd been bury searching through the now rugged caves. Levi was missing too, and Angel was nowhere to be seen either...they assumed them to be submerged also...

Hanje wheezed in amongst the dust as she shovelled at the ground with her hands. "Levi must be...nearby here...somewhere..." She said weakly, then placing her dirty hands over her mouth.

Sasha swept to her side. "You can't push yourself, or you'll pass out again!" She warned.

"No, I have to keep looking!" The woman flared up. "His cape was nearby here so he must be under here to-!"

Before she could start another manic fluffy Erwin had already hit her stomach, knocking her clean out. The younger part of the squad looked at him in a shocked expression "My apologise Hanje" He said as if she could hear him, carefully lifting her up and handing her to Reiner like a doll. "Take her to the surface and don't let her back down. She's only getting in the way in her state..." Reiner nodded silently before clicking his gear and heading back. Despite the sad circumstances, he was still eager to be under sunlight again.

The others continued the helpless search, their only light source being the flickering of what remained of the tunnel's lamps. Annie and Bertolt, despite their silence, appeared to be doing the least of the work due to their injuries, but still wished to remain in the caves. As for Jean, he was slinging scrap metal and dirt in every direction as he searched, but Erwin didn't feel a need to stop him. After hearing the noise from the surface and entering the caves, Connie and Sasha had managed to recover a few items from the wreckage, but of all those trinkets the only hope they had came from Heichou's wing emblemed cape. It was like the flag for their rescue mission, it gave them faith...

"When we find them, they'll still be alive, right?" Connie asked Erwin in a hushed tone. "I mean, we're immortal here..."

Erwin knelt next to him "They'll still be corpses when we find them Connie. Be prepared for that" He ordered the boy, before standing tall again.

Ymir soon came back from the surface carrying a tray of bread, along with having a few water flasks thrown over her shoulder on a rope. "Take a break guys, you can carry on after you've eaten" She said casually. Overall Ymir seemed a lot less than traumatically upset by the tunnel situation. She was more than used to this kind of chaos now she'd been in that world so long.

Sasha was somewhat hesitant, but soon sat down with the girl to drink from a flask. After seeing how she drank the other squad members were reminded of how desperate for water they really were and quickly went to get their fill.

Jean however didn't move from his place, but continued digging aggressively into the mud and metal that cut and scared his hands. He didn't care though, he knew it would heal up soon enough. Catching sight of the young man, Erwin walked to stand beside him, only getting a confused glance as a response.

"Getting angry at the ground won't make it move. You have to use technique" He said, pulling his shirt sleeves up decently and starting to dig himself. Even though he looked at ease, the man was moving twice as much ground as the other, cutting into the cave like a hot knife into butter. It was as impressive to Jean as it was annoying.

After what felt like another hour of digging, Erwin felt something non metal in the dirt. "Levi?" He said, brushing away more dirt to find what he thought were the tips of small fingers. This was his que to really get to work on the ground. "Ymir, get over here, I need some water! Connie, bring a light this way!" At his command the squad was in movement, quickly taking a flask Erwin poured water over the dry dirt, revealing Levi's right hand, still firmly grasped around his swords handle. The man almost wanted to laugh at his friend's determined attitude, even in death. Now the whole squad was digging away where his body lay in the dirt, everyone trying to do their bit for Levi, and Erwin. After the shortest time, Erwin was able to pull the small corpse from the dirt and cradle it like a tiny baby, swords and all. "Hand me another flask...I think he may be waking up" He said in astonishment, listening for his tiny breaths. Pouring some water into the man's mouth slowly, he waited for some kind of response. The whole team each watched in worry, even the sternest faces were filled with concern for their teammate...

A minute passed before the small man spluttered, coughing the water out and weakly opening his dark eyes to see Erwin smirking lightly. "Erwin...?" Levi said in a soar throated voice, before looking at the rest of the squad. "You're all...filthy..." He commented breathlessly, causing a few very grateful, but very sort laughs from his fellow soldiers. "...Eren?" He asked the Commander onewordedly, trying to independently lift himself up out of his arms.

"He's still missing. We believe him to be trapped in the inner city, seeing as this way to and from it is blocked" Erwin explained, helping him up.

Levi leant into him for support with a disgusted expression. "I need to go get him. I know another way...another...way to..." He breathed deep and stubbornly, not even capable of finishing his sentence before falling unconscious again against Erwin's chest.

"We'll continue digging this way. Jean, take Levi to the surface...and..." He didn't know what would make Levi madder. Waking up covered in dirt and blood from head to toe, or knowing one of his teammates had given him a bath and changed him whilst he was unconscious. The man closed up to Jean and spoke so the others wouldn't hear. "Let Petra run him a bath, tell her to make sure he has clean pyjamas and a clean bed away from Hanje and the others, you can keep watch over him, maybe tie him down...he can deal with Petra, but he'll definitely try and murder you when he realises what's happened" He added with a light nostalgic smile.

"R-Right..." Jean answered, blushing a bit at the thought, then taking Levi from the Commander and heading to the surface.

Connie coughed awkwardly on the dust they'd made from digging so fast. "S-Sir?"

"We get back to work as of now. Connie, go with Jean to the surface and have the rest of the Garrison sent down, tell them Sasha is already here. I also want the stable crews down here too with more shovels. Go now!" Connie sprung into action in an instant and ran after him.

"From this moment on we work at double the speed. Our teammate is still down there and we will find him. Understood?"

"Yes Commander Erwin!"

To be continued.

(I hope you like action, backstory, angry Heichou and fluff, because that is my thinking for chapter three. Follow/Review please, I want to know somebody's actually still reading. Thank you)


	3. Levi's Story

(Sorry the upload took a while. I am sure you've noticed my disposition of using Heichou and Corporal so I've decided I'm going to stick with Corporal from here on on since this is in English. We get to meet "No Regrets" characters now too, yaay~ Please review, it seriously keeps me going. Enjoy reading)

Chapter three: Levi's story

Levi lay in his bed with the bright white sheets pulled up just over his nose, his eyes still firmly closed, but his mind coming into consciousness. The slightly open window of his bedroom let in the sound of the city, along with the smell.

"Shit..." The man muttered to himself, before quickly throwing himself out from under the sheets and shutting the window with both hands. He hated the way the crowded city smelled, but it was to be expected from a place that was so crowded with people.

"Good morning Levi" A friendly voice said from just outside the bedroom door.

Levi turned his head and frowned at the man resentfully. "What are you so cheery about at this time of day?" He asked, starting to neaten up the things he had drunkenly left on the windowsill the night before.

His roommate chuckled. "I'm guessing you're hungover, huh?" He jested. "I would be too if I drank as much as you did, especially considering your height and all"

Levi twitched at the sly comment, but feigned ignorance to it "I'm not hungover" He assured his friend just as he decided to neaten the bed sheets rather than say anything more.

"I mean, you must get drunk faster than most guys since you're smaller, right?" Farlan acted as though he hadn't heard Levi talking. "-but you drank even more than I did and..." The man had forced himself to come to a halt after seeing the scornful expression on Levi's face that burned into his retina.

"Don't you have some kind of place to be get to round about now, Farlan?" Levi asked his intolerable roommate monotonously, looking at the cheap grey suit he was wearing.

The tall blonde backed away from the doorway in fear. "Okay, well...I just thought I'd let you know I got you coffee and that it's in the kitchen if you want it..." He said hesitantly, before easing out of sight and running out of the apartment's front door.

Levi pulled on a white shirt from his dresser and left the bedroom to enter the living room slash kitchen space. He could tell by the dust lines on the wooden panel floor that Farlan had tried sweeping up that morning, but considering what a pitiful excuse of a job it was Levi wondered why he'd even bother.

They're apartment was not big, or elegant. Neither of the young men had much money to waste on fancy furniture (much to Levi's disappointment) when they were just about equalising their payment of the rent.

They had a couch and a small TV in one corner with an old green rug and a coffee table, whilst in the next corner they had a thin bookshelf made from cement blocks and planks, stuffed to the brim with books on finance and banking (all courtesy of Farlan) along with a few old classics from Shakespeare and Poe, things Farlan had only received as gifts from relatives, but Levi insisted be kept on the makeshift shelf out of tidiness. Levi didn't own any books.

"I don't have any interest in the sale of dead tattooed trees" was a line Farlan had been on the wrong end of more than on one occasion "I read and memorised more than enough scriptures a long time ago" He would add if he was in a real sour mood, which was most of the time.

Levi's work didn't require him reading classic novels nor plays, since he was already somewhat articulate there wasn't much else to improve on that he felt he could learn from a book.

After doing a quick re-sweep of the apartment, the young man had pulled on a long blue scarf and a long black coat and made his way out into the city to a certain bar where he took a seat at a wooden barstool half his height and removed the scarf from the lower half of his face to order.

"Are you really 21?" The dollish barmaid asked, quite snootily considering the crappy state of the place she was working. Levi's sorry glare as the older man sat next to him laughed was enough to answer her question and pour him a pity pint.

"So Hannes, how's the army been treating you?" Levi asked the weary eyed old man, speaking to him in German as he took bar mat after bar mat and placing it neatly next to it's twin out of boredom. "I bet they think your the big shit out in the Arabs by now" He praised him quite sarcastically.

Just as he did to the old man, the old man spoke back to the younger man in German also. "I'm taking a sabbatical for a few months, seeing relatives over the Winter holidays" Just as Hannes said that a flashy Christmas advertisement popped up on the tiny television that hung overlooking the bar.

Levi kept his eyes off the screen, could tell just by the tinny music it was a Christmas ad. "I'm sure you'll drink yourself into a pig idiot before I see you again after all this has ended" He said, before taking a sip of his beer.

The man chuckled. "Ain't that exactly what you're meant to do at this time of year?" He jested, leaving Levi to merely shrug. Once he'd finished his drink, the blonde placed his right hand into his top left coat pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a piece of folded up notebook paper. After grasping it between two fingers and showing Levi, he then placed it down on the bar next to his many empty pint glasses. "You can cover this round, right Levi?" Hannes asked, already leaving.

After Hannes had made his leave Levi immediately snapped his fingers, catching the attention of the young barmaid from before. "Can you watch this seat for my friend and I? He just sent me a mass text from the men's room, I don't believe he's doing to well in there shit-wise..." He asked her quite crudely, causing the girl to just furiously nod and hope that he'd make his leave already.

Once he'd walked his way through the crowd however, the young man simply walked past the men's room and out the fire exit, not setting off a single alarm.

"Cover this round my ass" He cursed Hannes' cheap attitude towards him - Not that this was new, before quickly pulling out and lighting himself a cigarette under his hand in the cold city air.

The paper he'd been handed was his next task for that day, however it seemed fairly unspecific and simple. From what has been written to him in swirly blue ink writing from an unknown client, he had been told he was to retrieve a certain stolen item from the stately Reiss household, the home of an ex-partner. At least, that was what Levi read whilst ignoring the longer more emotive words.

"A music box?" His roommate read aloud with a raised eyebrow.

After returning to the apartment for what he planned to be a quick nap, Levi had been abruptly woken up by the sound of Farlan returning from the office in the afternoon with their dinner. He was too ashamed however to admit that he'd spent the whole day sleeping and said he gone out.

Levi sat up on the couch with his head in his hands "Great deciphering Holmes, now tell me what you know about it" He growled.

Farlan smirked "You're just in a bad mood cause you've walked around and haven't eaten today" He teased, before handing Levi the brown bag with his hamburger and fries in it. "Eat that, I'll start looking for the Reiss household online" After he said that the young blonde was instantly sat down on the green rug with his laptop on the coffee table and his fingers clicking the keyboard at an Olympic speed.

"You got anything yet?" Levi asked, wiping his mouth clean with a napkin and getting up to lean over his roommate.

Farlan stammered "Don't stand over me like that Levi, you know I hate it!" With a sigh, Levi stepped back a step, but still loomed over the man with analysing eyes on the bright computer screen. "This job isn't going to be an easy one at all..." He admitted worrisomely.

Levi asked "Why's that?"

"Because the Reiss household is on it's own private estate. The house itself is surrounded by dense forest and the gates are only open to family and staff, they are notorious for keeping to themselves and having nearly no outer family members even enter the house without good reason..." He explained, opening up another tab. "Not to mention, the house itself is colossal. There are over thirty rooms on one floor alone, not to mention a vast cellar is built beneath the estate with over twenty tunnels that lead to different parts of the house in case of a raid. We'd have an easier time trying to break into the White house..." He said before sighing moodily.

Levi looked at the second tab whilst Farlan made tea in the kitchen. There were a few photos of the interior of the household. Things like glorious portraits being hung on the walls of a white gallery, right down to staffing penguin suits working the dining halls. The last photograph was of a little blonde girl with bright blue eyes, sitting timidly at a grand piano with her hands hovering over the keys, but not playing it. This time Levi sighed "As expect, there aren't any remotely useful pictures on this website" He complained, walking into the kitchen to stand by Farlan. "Although..." Levi said, silently looking the other man up and down.

Once he'd caught sight of what Levi was doing, Farlan give him a confused look "Is there something you want, Levi?" He asked awkwardly, trying to pour the tea.

Levi put his hand to his mouth in thought "How many suits do you have Farlan?"

The blonde half relaxed "Why do you ask?"

After bringing the man back over to the laptop's screen, Farlan understood what Levi was getting at in the kitchen. "You're thinking of suiting up as a waiter to get inside? Pretty risky..." Farlan chimed before clicking open another tab with a bidding website "Buying the actual uniform is way to expensive, but we can get a few on this site that are lookalikes"

Levi stated "That's not good enough" seeing the minor differences between the outfits.

Farlan stood up and paced "I could get Isabelle to do some editing, she's been great with this kind of stuff in the past" he suggested.

"No way" Levi growled "I can't allow her to get involved in our schemes this time" He said, pointing Farlan to the laptop screen. "Keep looking..."

Farlan crossed his arms "It's not like we're bringing her in with us Levi. She'll have next to nothing to do with it, I guarantee you" Farlan's smooth negotiation skill always hit Levi's sandpaper attitude like gravel on a drive way, losing it's charm before even getting to him.

Tonight however due to desperate circumstances, Levi felt more convincible "You can ask her tomorrow. Just order these stupid suits already" He said, clicking on the buy button.

Three working days had passed before the suits arrived. Luckily for the work ridden Farlan, Levi was moping in the apartment for all three of those days to get the package.

"Great, I'll go get these to Isabelle tonight!" He said excitedly holding the thing "Do you want me to get you anything to eat on my way back from the seamstress?"

Levi shook his head as he pulled on a black blazer over his faded blue shirt. "No, I'm going out" He sad bluntly.

Farlan smiled, holding the package under his arm. "Okay, see you later then!" He chirped. He always got in a happy mood whenever a plan was in progress, which tended to piss his roommate off.

Sitting with his eyes tightly shut, Levi was in complete thought process, unaware of his surroundings. "Why would a client want me to go into a manor house to steal a simple music box?" He thought to himself. All the research that Farlan and he had done on the house hadn't mentioned anything to do with a unique wooden music box at all, only paintings and golden things appeared under the Reiss name, things that any normal person would want much more than a shitty music box. "This job makes no sense at all, but all the same..."

"Levi, are you awake?"

The man opened one eye to see the familiar woman standing over him with her hands on her knees and a worried smile on her face. "Pleased to see you again Doctor" Levi said, getting up off the waiting room chair. The room was empty, not including Levi and the Doctor of course. This was because it was a secretive private surgery in the poorer part of the city, the kind of place that would cater to illegal immigrants and criminals alike.

"Come on inside so I can run a few tests, okay?" The woman asked politely.

Levi obliged, walking quietly behind her into the small practice's familiar main medical room. "I swear you just keep bringing me back here to see me take my shirt off" He joked dryly, causing the woman to chuckle.

"Just undress yourself already Prince Charming" She told him quite friendly, before opening up a green medical box at her desk.

After removing his shirt Levi jumped up on the low medical table and sat patiently as the Doctor pulled on a pair of gloves, making the usual conversation. "Have you been eating correctly Levi?"

"We'll I've starting putting the food in my mouth if that's what you mean" He said monotonously, taking a good look around the place. It was so bright white and clean he almost wanted to smile about it.

The Doctor exhaled, picking up a stethoscope "I'll take that as a no, shall I?" Putting the scope against Levi's chest she listened to his heartbeat intently "Take a big breath in" Levi did as he was told "And exhale" As he did this she tried concentrating, listening for any abnormalities whilst the man sat bored waiting for her. She eventually took the cold scope away and removed the phones. "Your beats are still irregular. Have you been feeling drowsy lately?" She asked him quite seriously.

Levi thought back over the past week. "I've spent at least four days this week asleep, including the nights" He grumbled. Just talking about sleep made him realise how exhausted he felt.

The Doctor was now sat at her computer, scanning Levi's records. "From the time since you starting coming to this surgery you were diagnosed as a chronic insomniac. But in the past two years, you've become more and more of some kind of chronic sleeper, Levi" She explained in simple terms that he could understand. "I took a few blood samples of yours last month and had them sent off to a lab upstate, their recordings are what I wanted to talk to you about today" She said, turning around on her office chair. Her face was somewhat expressionless "It's just like you had suspected Levi..." She said, averting her eyes and losing her professional attitude "I'm really sorry..."

Levi's dark eyes focused on her, before he jumped back down off the medical table and began putting his shirt back on coolly. "I'll see you next week Doc" He said in a relaxed manner, now buttoning up his shirt. "What time do you want me?" He asked, allowing the woman to sit up before she answered.

She smiled brightly "I'd like to see you next Monday evening so I can run a quick check up" She explained, before handing Levi a note "Take this to your pharmacy, it's your prescription for this month. Don't forget to take it" she added.

Levi, after pulling his blazer on, took the paper and left the medical room in a hurry. He didn't want to look at the place anymore. All he wanted to do was go home and go to sleep...

Standing in the living room, Isabelle began her announcement "And now, Levi's and Gentlemen! I present to you my latest creations!" Isabelle smiled, unzipping a long blue bag and whipping out two suave black suits. The two men both stood up and clapped, despite Farlan clapping enough for the both of them.

"Did you really need to invite her here?" Levi asked him in a whisper as they watched the girl neaten up and fiddle about with the suits.

Farlan looked insulted "You know how much she likes seeing you, how could I not let her come around!" He asked, leaving his roommate even more moody than he already was. "You did another great job Isabelle" Farlan praised the young girl before being handed his suit.

Levi feigned a pleased expression for her sake as she handed him his suit cheerily. "Thank you Isabelle. You've been helpful" He said, before walking away with the suit into the bathroom to put it on.

After removing all his clothes excluding his underwear, Levi began putting on the suit starting with the black trousers. The black silk felt nice against his cold skin as the slipped on with ease. Isabelle had clearly gone to great lengths in the past two days to make the suit fit perfectly for him, it was borderline depressing to think about. Once he was finished changing Levi walked out the bathroom and into the living room just as Farlan had finished changing to his room too. Isabelle and Farlan blushed at the sight of Levi in his new suit, causing him to tut a little.

"We defiantly look good Farlan, but I can't help but notice how these arn't waiters outfits. Now how about you explain how we'll be getting into Reiss Manor?" He said sourly, sitting down on the couch next to Isabelle, who was quietly drinking coco from a large mug.

Farlan stood in front of them both with his laptop as he began to debrief Levi on the plan. "Most of the year, the Reiss family house is closed up to the public, that is with one well-known exception. The Christmas Ball. A massive party is held in the main hall of the Manor, that opens guests up to the balcony's and the extensive gardens that surround the place. I was going to have us go in as staff members, but after looking into it, I realised it would be much easier if we were to simply attend as guests and snoop around the household during the Ball. By using a history site, I was able to map out the tunnels that lie under the Reiss grounds that we could use in case of an emergency, but I doubt we'd need to go that far..." He added surely. "As the heads of the family have been happily married for the past decade, it's safe to assumed that the music box that was taken by an ex partner, is in the possession of the youngest daughter of the Reiss family, Historia Reiss"

"Piano Girl?" Levi's first thought was of the photograph of the petite blonde on the website.

"Now, as for our identities..." Farlan began quite nervously "Levi, you are a distant relative of Earl Grey of Britain, and The Lord of-"

Levi twitched "But I'm not British..."

Farlan sighed exhaustedly "I know, but he was the only one who looked the most like you okay? So, just go with it" He begged, handing Levi a white envelope. "As for myself, I am your younger brother and business partner, and Isabelle is my fiancée"

Levi stood up hastily, giving himself a sudden headache. "What?" He growled, looking from Isabelle to Farlan. "What happened to your guarantee?"

Farlan sighed "It hit its sell by date, okay? I needed to make the part more plausible, not to mention, we need someone who can cushy up to the staff. Isabelle is great at that kind of thing!" He said defensively.

This time Isabelle stood up "I promise I'll play a good part Levi, just let me prove myself to you!" She pleaded, tugging at his arm.

"Let go of me!" Levi said, harshly pulling his arm away from her and walking away. He thought about the situation for a while before answering them. "You can come, but you're to stay with Farlan. The moment things look like they've gotten shitty, get yourself out" He ordered her, rubbing his forehead painfully. The girl nodded in response, Farlan did the same. It seemed that the whole trio would be taking part in this mission after all.

Farlan's laugh was the next thing to break the silence. "I can't believe we're doing all this for a music box" He laughed, wiping tears from his bright blue eyes. Isabelle smiled lightly at his sudden laughable mood leaving Levi to only look on contently.

"This is it..." Levi thought, looking at the other two silently as they smiled. "Once we get the money from this, the two of then will be set for life. They'll have a bright future ahead of them...I know it..."

As she looked to Levi once more, Isabelle's innocent smile faded. "Levi..." She murmured, her eyes widening "Are you okay...?" He looked back at her with his arms crossed in confusion. Farlan was now holding the same worried expression as the girl beside him.

As he opened his mouth to speak, Levi felt himself drop to the floor. Farlan ran over to him n an instant, lifting his head up on his knees. "Isabelle, call an ambulance, now!" She girl gave him a tearful nod before whipping out her mobile phone and turning away to speak. Levi could feel himself slipping away. "No you don't! Levi, stay awake!" Farlan ordered him, trying to shake his friend into consciousness as he held him. Feeling the room disappear around him, all that was left to Levi was Farlan and him. "I knew something was going on Levi...and I knew you wanted to keep it a secret..." The blonde explained, trying to keep his cool. "If you'd just told me...why didn't you want to tell me?" He asked quietly, pulling Levi up a little. His dark eyes were barely open now as his friend spoke to him. "Isn't that what people are supposed to do when they're sick...tell their best friend?" He questioned, starting to stroke the other man's hear as he held him.

Levi spoke in a hushed tone "Hey Farlan..."

"What?" He asked, holding back hot tears.

"...I'm so tired..."

Farlan sniffed before shutting his eyes tightly in stress "I know Levi...I know..." He huffed "But you've gotta stay awake alright, just until the ambulance gets here, okay?" He asked of him, pulling him even closer to his chest "You've gotta stay awake for Isabelle...or else she'll cry...and for me too, okay?" But Farlan and Isabelle were already crying for his sake.

There was nothing left that Levi could say. The ringing in his ears hurt like Hell, and his eyes were only getting heavier. All that he wanted to do was go to sleep...

Levi tried to turn over in his bed, only to he held back by something that hung tight around his right wrist. Quickly opening his eyes Levi's blurry vision caught sight of a ginger haired woman sitting on the bed in front of him with her hand around his.

"It's good to see you're awake Corporal" Petra smiled, letting go of his arm and standing up. "I'll go tell Erwin that you've arisen" She said just as she started to walk away.

Levi quickly grabbed her wrist from where we lay, causing her to turn her head and look down at him in confusion. "Stay...just for a while..." He ordered her quietly. The woman smiled kindly before sitting back down on the end if the bed with her Corporal. "Don't leave until I say so" He added, before relaxing back on his pillow again.

"Alright, I'll stay put" She said kindly, taking his right hand again.

Levi asked "Is that a promise?" Making the woman smirk again.

"Until the end" She chirped.

To be continued...

(This chapter was fun to write, even if it was very Levi centred. I'm thinking of maybe doing Ymir's or Petra's backstory next. That is after developing this current plot a little more. Please review or message me, see you on my next update.)


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